


all i can do

by greywardenblue



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25344328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greywardenblue/pseuds/greywardenblue
Summary: Merlin and Arthur are captured and locked up together. Rescue will come, but not yet.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 114





	all i can do

**Author's Note:**

> The disclaimer is that I originally wrote this in Hungarian back in 2011 and translated it in 2020. The language is polished up, but the story and such is the original.

When the young brunette brings the food, she calls it breakfast. The old man is a real grump, but last time he came down and saw him shivering, he brought a blanket. He always calls the food supper. That means he is fed twice a day. The woman has visited him four times, and the old man four times since he was captured in the night, so that means this is the fourth day.

He has lost his sense of time. There are no windows down here, just the darkness and the candles outside the little chamber he is locked in. His hands are tied to the wall with metal circles that heat up and make him feel impossibly weak if he tries any magic. That is the most worrying detail of all, because it means whoever ordered him brought here _knew_ to prepare. On his right, there is a little stream of water flowing in through a hole from outside and flowing down somewhere below into the earth. It's not the cleanest, but it's drinkable, even if drinking from it is an awkward maneuver with the chains.

He knows there is a guard outside - Merlin can hear him coughing - but he can't see the man from where he is tied up. When he was brought here he tried to make conversation, if only to test for weaknesses or find out why he was brought here, but he might as well have been talking to a brick wall.

His stomach rumbles and he sighs, closing his eyes as he rests his head against the wall. He's not sure, but it feels like supper is late.

Someone comes down the stairs. It must be the old man this time - nobody else comes. Merlin can hear him stop in front of the guard.

"What happened to him?" the guard asks.

"He wouldn't give up," says an unfamiliar voice. "Just kept fighting, like some kind of maniac. But we outnumbered him. Arvos said he must be here for the sorcerer."

That makes him perk up. The guards exchange a few more words, then the one guarding him coughs again, and the other one leads the prisoner inside. Merlin tries to move around to see better, but it's not necessary - the guard leads the prisoner right inside his cell and starts binding him to the wall.

The man is beaten badly, barely conscious. His blond hair is tainted by blood, and raising his head is clearly a hardship. But he raises it anyway, and when their eyes meet Merlin thinks he must be seeing things in the dark, because there's no way Arthur's bleeding lips are twitching into a smile right now. Not even Merlin can bring himself to smile in this situation.

"Arthur..."

The prince closes his eyes, leans against the wall, and doesn't say anything. He's close enough that even with his hands bound, Merlin can reach out and grab his arm. "What are you doing here?! Where's everyone else? Did you come after me alone?" He pauses. "Arthur, tell me you didn't come after me alone."

Arthur is breathing evenly, but he doesn't respond. He doesn't even react to Merlin squeezing his arm. Eventually, lets go.

"I always knew you were a prat, but this is a lot, even for you."

Arthur frowns. "Shut it."

Miraculously, Merlin shuts it. They are both quiet for a while before Arthur asks, without opening his eyes, "Are you alright?"

Merlin breathes out. "Compared to you? I'm peachy. They didn't exactly spoil me, but neither do you, so really, I'm used to it..."

Arthur opens his eyes just long enough to glare at him, and Merlin smiles. It's horrible to see him like this, and it should be so hopeless to be stuck here together, and yet Arthur's mere presence gives him hope that they will make it through this. He wets the sleeve of his shirt from the spring and clumsily cleans Arthur's face as much as he can. The prince tries to bat him away at first, but Merlin persists, and eventually Arthur breathes out and lets him wipe down his face and his exposed neck.

Steps sound on the stairs, and this time it really is the old man. He brings supper for both of them, although it's hardly more than what he was getting on his own. Arthur eyes the tray skeptically.

"What about water?" he asks.

"They don't bring us water," Merlin says as the old man nods towards the spring in the corner.

Arthur frowns. "I can't reach that." It's true. Merlin is between him and the water. He sighs and forms a cup from his hands, then fills it with water and murmurs a few words to keep it from immediately flowing through his fingers, even as the metal heats up and cuts into his skin. He offers Arthur the makeshift cup, but he only shakes his head and turns to the old man. "This is ridiculous. Do you want me to die of thirst?"

The old man shrugs. For some reason, he seems less sympathetic to Arthur's plight than Merlin's earlier cold. "If you're really thirsty, you'll figure something out," he says. "Now eat. I have to wait until you're done and I don't have all night."

Arthur eats grudgingly, and so does Merlin. When Merlin finishes first, he maneuvers with the blanket to get it over Arthur's knees as well as his own, warming them both.

A guard comes in, the same one who brought Arthur. He has a key with him, and he binds the chains to the wall to make them shorter.

"Wouldn't want you to get up to something in the night," he says, and Merlin wonders what he means. Most likely that they would try to cook up an escape plan, although that is not his first thought.

\--

Merlin sleeps uneasily, and he wakes when Arthur knees him in the side.

"Ow! What the hell are you doing?!"

"I'm thirsty," Arthur says, almost lying on top of Merlin.

Merlin frowns. "And how does kicking me help you?"

"I was trying to get to the water, but I can't reach it. The chain isn't long enough."

"When I offered, you said you didn't want my help."

Arthur grumbles something.

"I couldn't hear you."

"I said, I want it now."

"Well, you're out of luck, because with the shorter chains I can't move my hands that far. Maybe at breakfast we can talk the servant into helping."

"I'll die of thirst by then," Arthur says in a whine, and suddenly he's every bit of a spoiled prince. Merlin rolls his eyes.

"Then you'll realize you should have accepted my help earlier."

Arthur climbs off of him with a frown, elbowing him in a sensitive place and not even saying sorry. Merlin fumes silently. He couldn't help Arthur even if he wanted, and why would he want it, after how he's been acting? And yet, he looks so miserable like this, hair still messy, blood still on his clothes.

Or can he?

If Arthur didn't accept his hands, he might actually kick him for suggesting this. But as he watches Arthur lick his lips desperately, Merlin sighs and stretches towards the water until he can fill his mouth.

"You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?" Arthur says. "You have to rub it in, that you can drink?"

Merlin doesn't answer. He carefully leans towards Arthur again, his mouth full of water. Arthur stares at him in disbelief, then recognition shines in his eyes. He leans in closer, slowly, slowly, and Merlin is silently urging him to hurry, because this really isn't that comfortable and actually very awkward. He closes his eyes and opens his mouth slightly when Arthur's lips touch his, and he thinks he must imagine Arthur's tongue exploring his mouth longer than it should, but maybe Arthur is just really, truly thirsty and doesn't want to let a single drop of water go to waste.

Arthur pulls back without a word and leans against the wall again, closing his eyes, preparing to sleep back. Merlin mumbles something about a lack of thanks, but he knows it would get no response either way. He feels strangely hot, but he tries to sleep.

After a while he wakes again, this time to Arthur bumping his shoulder with his head.

"Merlin..."

"What is it now?" he asks, annoyed.

Arthur looks up at him, his eyes shining. "I'm parched."

**Author's Note:**

> Based on an Ákos song, because this was before he came out as a misogynist.


End file.
